


And shocked, I stared into the darkness and found myself

by lilies_in_a_vase



Series: Lilies’ group of Writer’s Block Bullshit - aka Standalone Fics Used To Attempt To Ignite Creativity After Having Forgotten What Words Are [2]
Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst with a Happy Ending, Billy Hargrove & Maxine "Max" Mayfield Bonding, Billy Hargrove Needs a Hug, Billy Hargrove Tries to Be a Better Sibling, Don’t worry it’s Neil, Gen, Good Sibling Maxine "Max" Mayfield, Hurt Billy Hargrove, I don’t condone murder, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, I’ve read too many fics, Maxine "Max" Mayfield Needs a Hug, POV Maxine "Max" Mayfield, Pre-Season/Series 03, Sibling Bonding, Spoilers!, There’s just something very cathartic in having Susan snap and killing Neil, Will I take any reason to get to call Billy William?, no beta we die like men, off screen character death, yes yes I will
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-04
Updated: 2021-02-04
Packaged: 2021-03-15 23:07:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,691
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29197341
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lilies_in_a_vase/pseuds/lilies_in_a_vase
Summary: Max is hanging out with the Party when Billy comes to get her, an hour early, and doesn’t drive her home to Cherry.
Relationships: Billy Hargrove & Maxine "Max" Mayfield
Series: Lilies’ group of Writer’s Block Bullshit - aka Standalone Fics Used To Attempt To Ignite Creativity After Having Forgotten What Words Are [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2081217
Comments: 16
Kudos: 75





	And shocked, I stared into the darkness and found myself

**Author's Note:**

> TRIGGER WARNING:  
> (This includes spoilers for the fic)  
> The murder is off screen but there is a brief description of how it happened. There’s also a description of blood, and Billy’s injuries. 
> 
> Disclaimer:  
> I don’t own “Stranger Things”

“It’s not eight yet,” Lucas says, and Max turns to look over her shoulder at the clock in the Wheelers’ basement. He’s right, it’s barely past seven. 

And yet they’d all heard the Camaro screech to a stop outside less than a minute ago. 

“You think he forgot the time?” Dustin asks, frowning up at the tinted windows from which they can see the glare of Billy’s headlights. 

“No,” Max shakes her head. “It’s Billy, he doesn’t- He doesn’t  _ do _ that.” Which means that he’s here because her mum needs her, or his dad’s changed the rules again and wants her home for some stupid goddamn reason. 

“Maybe you could ask him to let you-“ Will starts, but is interrupted by honking. 

“Yeah, no,” Mike says, when it doesn’t let up.

Max imagines Billy’s pissed off, that he’s going to shout at her for not being out on time when he’s  _ an hour early_, and she  _ couldn’t have known_, and then they’re going to stew in angry silence the whole way home and Max is going to slam her door when she gets home and her mum is going to come in and tell her that she’s not allowed to do that and in the morning Neil’s going to tell her that she needs to be careful not to break something or it’s her money that will go into the repairs and if it continues he’ll take her door of its hinges because privacy is a privilege that she has to prove she deserves. 

The honking doesn’t let up, and Max knows everything’s going to be worse the longer she takes, and she doesn’t want the Wheelers getting a stream of angry neighbours coming over because Billy’s disturbing the evening, so she stands up with a sigh just as Nancy opens the door. 

“Guys, Max’ brother’s here!” 

“She’s coming!” Mike shouts back, and Nancy disappears but the door stays open.

“I’ll see you in school tomorrow,” Max says, and goes up the stairs to the hallway. 

Nancy meets her up there, leaning against the wall and looking towards the front door. “If he keeps doing that I’m going to fucking shoot him,” she mutters, so quiet Max doubts she’s supposed to hear. 

Still, she grins up at her as she pulls on her jacket. “I’ll tell him.” 

Nancy laughs and steps closer to the door as Max opens it. She barely hears her lock it behind her from the sound of Billy’s honking. 

She runs up to the passenger side, and makes sure to wrench the door open so Billy knows she’s mad. He keeps honking until she’s inside. 

“Knock it off or Nancy’s going to shoot you,” she tells him, but Billy doesn’t even spare her a glance. He doesn’t wait for her to pull on her seatbelt before he’s pressing down on the gas pedal and speeding away. 

“Why are you so early?” Max asks. “Billy? Hey! Why are you so fucking early?!” 

He doesn’t answer, doesn’t look at her, and Max crosses her arms, huffs, and turns to stare out the window in what even she can tell is a silly form of defiance. 

But looking out the window leads her to the conclusion that Billy’s not driving them home. He makes a turn at a crossroads up ahead that Max knows leads in the opposite direction. 

“Billy?” she asks, and turns sharply to look at him. “Billy, where are we going? Billy, what the fuck? Where are we going?! Billy!” 

He doesn’t say anything, but Max sees his hands clench on the wheel, feels the car accelerate. For a second she wonders if he’s absolutely lost it, if he’s kidnapping her, if he’s drunk and is about to drive them straight of a cliff or into a fucking tree. 

“I’m going to jump out of the fucking car if you don’t tell me where we’re going!” 

They both know it’s an empty threat, but Billy flinches, the Camaro swerves, and Max screams. 

Billy’s hand shoots out and lands over her own, and Max tries to pull away but he takes it and gives it a squeeze before moving it back onto the wheel, righting them back on the road, and all Max can think is  _ ‘What the fuck is happening?’_.

She’s silent the rest of the ride, her heart beating like a jackrabbit, and it doesn’t slow down when Billy parks and Max realises where they are. The lights of Hawkins Memorial Hospital light up the car park, and for the first time it hits Max that something serious might have happened.

“What... What are we doing here?” Max asks, and hates how quiet her voice is. 

Billy doesn’t answer at first. He’s gripping the steering wheel, staring straight ahead out of the window. Max swallows. 

“Billy?” 

“Your mum killed my dad.” 

Max is certain that for a second, the Earth must have stopped to a halt on its axis. “What?” 

“He was hitting me, like he always does,” Billy says, like this is something Max was supposed to already know about. His Adam’s apple bobs as he swallows. “But it was worse this time, I mean, he was- He was  _ really _ beating me up, and Susan, she... She grabbed a frying pan and hit him over the back of the head. He crashed into the coffee table, and broke the glass, and she kept hitting him. And I pulled myself together and I ran the fuck out of there.” He turns to look at her, and Max realises why he wouldn’t before. She startles at the sight of tears streaming down his cheek, drawing lines in the blood on the left side of his face. It’s trailing down from his hair, is smeared away from his nose and along his cheek and down his neck. She hadn’t seen it before, in the dark, but now with the lights of the hospital, now that she knows what to look for, she sees that his left hand is similarly smeared with drying blood from where he must’ve attempted to clean himself up. To not scare her.

Max forces herself to look back at his face when he starts speaking again. 

“I don’t- I don’t know what to do. I don’t know what’s going to happen now, Max.” He lets out a sob, and Max jumps. She’s pressed herself back against the car door, she realises, as though she’d been preparing for an escape. She can’t stop staring at Billy. “She killed him, Max.” 

“I didn’t know... That Neil was- That he-“ Max starts, suddenly desperate to explain herself. But she stops when Billy laughs. It’s wet-sounding, and it’s wrong. 

“Don’t bullshit me, Max. You might act like it, but you’re not an idiot.” 

“No, I didn’t! I wouldn’t have- If I knew-! I  _ didn’t_ _!_ ” Max realises she’s started crying, too. “No one ever told me,” she whispers. 

Billy doesn’t say anything, but he takes her hand again. 

“Have you... Did you call the police?” Max asks, and shudders at the thought of what they’d find, what they might do to her mum. She doesn’t know what’s going to happen to them, she shouldn’t have to deal with this, she’s just a kid.  _But so is Billy._

He shakes his head, the look in his eyes distant, as though he’s lost somewhere far away. “I just ran,” he whispers.And Max realises that Billy’s out of commission right now, that she’s the one who has to step up and think.

“Okay. You’re hurt, right? Like, really, really hurt? That’s why you took us here?” 

Billy nods, once. 

“We should go in, then. Shouldn’t we?”

“We should,” Billy says, but neither one moves. 

They’re still holding each other’s hands.

“Billy...” Max starts, carefully. “Do you... do you need help?”

He shakes his head. “No, it’s fi- I can... I can walk. I mean, I could drive, you know. I can walk. We should go in.” 

But Max can see it on his face.  Fear . She wonders if he’s ever been to a hospital like this before. If...  _ the thing_, that could bring her mother - her gentle, soft mother who combed her hair for the Snowball - to... to  _ murder_, has ever been this bad before. 

Max doesn’t know if it’s the right thing to do, she’s been out of her depth since Billy showed up at the Wheelers, but she squeezes his hand, meets his eyes and says “I won’t leave,” and lets go to open her door. 

Billy follows suit a moment later, and they stand there a moment longer, facing each other on each side of the Camaro. There’s a blue tint to the lights, and it’s making him look paler, making the blood darker, making his eyes shine.

Max pulls her arms up, hugs herself with her hands underneath her armpits. The evening feels much colder than it did when she left her friends in Mike’s basement. 

A couple people look up when they step into the waiting room, eyes widening at the sight of Billy’s face, but the nurse behind the check-in desk only frowns. They’re probably supposed to walk up to her, tell them what’s wrong so they can help them, but Max doesn’t say anything when Billy only moves to sit down in one of the hard plastic chairs against the wall. 

She sits down beside him. He’s bent over, his hands wringing, and Max reaches out and puts her hand on his arm. He winches, and Max pulls back. 

“What now?” she asks. 

“You’re friends with the Chief, aren’t you?” 

“He’s Jane’s dad, so yeah.” 

“You should probably call him. Tell him to get here.” 

“Okay,” Max says, because she doesn’t know what else to do. She stands up, and realises she doesn’t know where the phone is. 

The nurse follows her with her gaze all the way up to the counter. 

Max doesn’t bother with any pleasantries. She’s somehow both too tired and too high strung. “Where’s the phone?” 

“There’s one down the hall by the toilets.” Max turns to go in that direction, but the nurse’s voice stops her before she can get very far. Max turns to look at her over her shoulder. “You and your... brother? He looks like he needs help, but I need you to sign a couple forms, tell us what happened so we know what to check for, and-“ 

“Okay. But I just need to make this call first. He told me to,” she adds, when it looks like the woman’s about to protest.

She hopes it isn’t past eight yet, that Hopper hasn’t left the station to pick up El, because she doesn’t know what she’ll do if she gets one of the officers. 

_“Hawkins Police Station, what can we do for you?”_ a woman answers. 

“Is Chief Hopper there?”

_ “He was just about to leave-“ _

“Please. I need to talk to him. He knows who I am. I’m friends with his daughter.” 

_“Okay,”_ the woman says, and it sounds like she puts her palm over the receiver to muffle the sound, but Max still hears it when she shouts, _“Hop! Some girl wants to talk to you, says she’s friends with your kid and that you know her!”_

A couple seconds later, and Max hears Hopper’s voice. _“Max? What’s happening, is Jane alright?”_

Max breathes a sigh of relief. They haven’t gotten a call about Cherry Lane yet. “I’m at the hospital, Billy’s hurt, and we need you to get here.” 

_ “What do you mean, ‘Billy’s hurt’, Max, why are you-?” _

“Please, just get here. We’ll explain everything once you get here. Please, Hopper. Hurry.” 

_ “Okay, okay. I’ll just have to call Steve, ask him to pick up Jane. I’m on my way, Max. Hang tight.”  _

She feels exhausted when she gets back to Billy. He must feel the same, because as she sits down he leans to the side and rests his head against hers. Max reaches for his hand again. They’ve never been affectionate, but she feels like she needs it, right now. Like he might, too. It’s struck her that they’ve really only got each other, and so much has been revealed to her in less than an hour that her head feels like someone took out all its thoughts and perceptions and what she thought she knew of her family and shook them around, left them scrambled and strange.

“You okay, shitbird? The Chief’s on his way?” 

“Yeah. The nurse is worried about you.” 

Billy huffs a quiet, short laugh. His breath makes a couple of strands of Max’ hair hoover in the air in front of them. 

Waiting there for Hopper, Max feels like it’s the first time this evening that she has time to breathe. Billy’s head is getting heavier, and he’s leaning more and more against her. She hasn’t spent much time in hospitals, the last time she was there having been when her grandma died, a year before they moved in with Billy and his dad. She was too preoccupied to notice it before, but the smell of antiseptics is almost like an assault on her senses, with how strong it is.

She keeps her eyes trained on the double doors of the entrance, so as soon as Hopper steps in she she sees him. Max lifts the hand not in Billy’s to wave at him. 

She gets his attention, and he moves quickly to them. Out of curiosity, Max turns to look at the nurse at the reception, and sees she’s following Hopper’s movements with a concerned frown. 

“Hey,” Hopper says, and Max turns to find him crouching down in front of her. His gaze moves from her to Billy, and suddenly his eyes widen. “Hargrove? Hey, kid-“ 

He reaches out and Billy’s weight is removed from her side. Max turns to see Billy’s eyes are closed, and he’s looking like a lifeless rag doll in Hopper’s big arms, his head lolling to the side. 

“Shit. Max, what the hell happened?” Hopper lowers his voice, then, “Did... Are the demodogs back?” 

“No-“ Max doesn’t get further before the nurse from before is there, crouching down beside Hopper. 

“Chief Hopper?” she asks, and turns, locking eyes with Max. “What happened? Are you two in trouble? When did he lose consciousness?” 

“I-“  _ I don’t know! _ She looks helplessly at the two adults in front of her. She’s worried about Billy, she’s worried about her mum, she doesn’t know what will happen to herself, and she wanted them to talk to Hopper alone, because Billy told her to call him before he told her to do anything else, and- 

The nurse grabs Billy’s arm, then one Max had avoided, and his eyes fly open. He lets out a chocked keen, and tries to scramble backwards but he’s still in his chair so he just ends up knocking into Max.

The nurse jumps backwards, and Hopper holds up his hands. 

“Hey, hey, kid, breathe,” he says. 

Billy’s holding his arm against his chest, and he’s crying again. He looks like he’s doing his best to stop. 

“Chief,” he gasps out. “You have to... Neil, my dad, he was hitting me again, and Susan, that’s Max’ mum, she- She pushed him away from me and he broke the table when he fell and I think he’s dead.” 

Max hears the nurse suck in a sharp breathe, but she isn’t focusing on her. She has to see how Hopper reacts. 

He lets out and audible sigh and drags his hand across his face, thumb and forefinger massaging the bridge of his nose. 

“But it was self defence!” Max shouts, loud enough she can feel eyes turn to stare at her. She doesn’t care. Nothing matters anymore. “Right? I mean, she was defending Billy, so she shouldn’t be... right? Hopper?”

He’s not looking at her when he answers. He’s staring at the blood on Billy’s face. “I can’t see anyone who would like to defend Neil fucking Hargrove. He had a history of doing this to you, kid?” 

“Yeah,” Billy says, voice low. His head‘a lowered, gaze turned downward to the space between their bodies. He’s taken Max’ hand again without her noticing. 

“Okay. I’m going to go pick up your mum now, Max. You think she’s still at home?” 

“She was when I left,” Billy says. 

“And you came straight here? Picked up Max and drove the two of you here?” 

“Yeah. I couldn’t- I couldn’t stay and I didn’t want her getting home to see... that.” 

Hopper pats his knee as he goes to stand. “You made the right call, kid. I’ll see if Joyce can come by.” 

“So I can get him checked out now?” The nurse asks. 

Hopper nods, and then he’s turning around, leaving them with the nurse, who takes his place crouching down in front of them. 

“What’s your name, sweetie?” 

“Billy,” Max says, at the same time that Billy mumbles, “William Hargrove.”

“Okay.” The nurse smiles, and hands them a couple papers Max hadn’t noticed she’d brought with her. “You try to fill these out, and I’ll get a triage nurse to check you out.” 

She leaves, and Max sees Billy’s hand shakes when he takes the pen she left behind. Max reaches out and takes both it and the papers from him. 

“I’ll do it. You just tell me what to write.”

It’s not a lot to fill out, the first part about if he’s taking any medications, if he’s got any allergies, Billy muttering a “No” on all of them. The next part is trickier to get out of him. Max is supposed to write down what’s wrong with him, what they need to check, if he’s got any past medical problems, but Billy doesn’t want to tell her. It’s like trying to force a raging storm to speak. Not that he’s particularly angry anymore. He just seems tired. 

“I think he broke my arm. He’s done it before,” he finally relents. “And I think my ribs are broken. Or bruised. Fuck, I don’t know. My forehead’s bleeding, my nose’ bleeding, my goddamn back is bleeding. That’s it.” 

_ That’s a lot.  _ But she doesn’t say it, she just fumbles to get it down. 

The triage nurse gets there not five minutes later, calling out for “Hargrove” and Billy stumbles when he goes to stand. Max reaches out to steady him, grabbing the uninjured arm. 

“You okay?”

“Yeah. Yeah, just got a little dizzy. You don’t have to worry, Max.” 

They’re lead down a corridor to an exam room. Max hands the nurse the papers before going to sit down in the chair beside the one Billy’s taken. 

They don’t say anything as the nurse looks through it, but Max watches as his expression darkens. 

“How heavy would you say the bleeding is on your back?” he eventually asks, putting the papers to the side and going over to a cupboard in the corner of the room. 

“It’s not that bad.” Max hears the hesitation in Billy’s voice before he continues. “I’d just showered, Ohe’d just come home. He pushed me, threw a vase at my back and hit me with the shoehorn. It’s... It’s made of steel.”

“Okay. Here,” he hands him a thermometer and Billy pops it into his mouth. Usually, Max would have thought he’d make more of a fuss. When he’s done, the nurse takes it back, scribbles something down on another paper, and reaches for Billy’s arm to check his blood pressure. “Usually, we’d get you registered now, get your insurance information and so on, but you’re a minor,” he says while he works. “My colleague told me about your situation, so we can’t exactly contact your parents right now. But I don’t want you to worry about that right now, okay? We’ll get you the help you need.” 

Once he’s finished, he makes another note, and leaves, telling them to wait in there for a doctor to arrive. 

“Max,” Billy says once the door’s closed behind him. “Don’t look. Later, you don’t have to- Don’t look.” 

“I can handle it, Billy.” 

“You don’t have to,” he whispers. “It’s pretty bad.” 

Max reaches for his hand again. “You don’t have to protect me anymore. I can handle it.” She’s dealt with the Upside Down, she can’t imagine this will face her more. 

But it does, Max finds out as she feels her stomach plummet when Billy takes off his shirt, having been asked by the doctor who’d just entered to do so and to take a seat on the exam bed. Maybe it’s the fact that she’s known Billy longer than the boys and El, or maybe it’s the fact that it feels somehow both realer, more grounded in reality, and more like a nightmare than the Upside Down ever really did. Maybe it’s the fact that for the last couple of years of her life, Max has eaten almost every dinner at the same table as the one who did this to Billy. 

Billy’s upper body is a mess of bruises. And when he turns, Max can’t help the little gasp that escapes her at the sight of his torn up back. The bruises continue up his sides, mapping out his ribs, like some grotesque art piece, and Max thinks that at least one of the wounds on his shoulder blade is still bleeding. 

“I’m going to pull the bed out, just wait a second,” the doctor says, and Billy ends up fidgeting next to Max while she does. “If you sit down, I’ll go stand behind you and clean the blood away first, okay?” 

Billy nods, but he doesn’t move. Max gets the feeling he can’t. 

So she stands up, takes his hand and leads him over to it. She only lets go long enough for him to hop on the bed, taking his hand again when the doctor makes him bend forward, his gaze directed at his lap. 

She cleans his back, and other than the initial flinch, Billy doesn’t react. Not until she’s grabbing a syringe and injecting the anaesthesia, starting to stitch the deeper, bigger wounds closed. Then, he whimpers, once, and holds Max’ hand a little tighter. 

When it’s time for his face, Max has to move aside, but she still doesn’t let go. 

Max is told to wait outside in the corridor while Billy gets X-Rayed, and when Billy comes back, having taken so long Max has started to consider trying to run after and find him, he’s got his arm in a cast and looks ready to fall asleep where he stands. 

They’re left alone to go back to the waiting room, and Max is expecting she’s going to have to call Hopper again. She doesn’t know what time it is, but she’s tired, and she doesn’t expect they’ll be able to get home tonight. 

But when they round the corner to the waiting area, Joyce stands up and immediately draws Max’ attention. She hurries up to them, and Max lets herself be pulled into a hug. 

“How you doing, sweetie?” She hears her ask Billy above her head. 

“As good as can be expected, I guess, Ms-“

“Joyce. It’s Joyce, Billy,” she sounds gentle as she speaks. 

Max hugs her tighter, once, before letting go and stepping back. 

“Hopper called me. Told me what happened. I don’t know what’s going to happen, tomorrow, or next week, but for tonight you’re staying with me. And you can sleep in tomorrow, I’m not making you go to school.” She sounds horrified at the prospect. 

They follow her out of the hospital and out to her car, Billy getting into the backseat without a word. Max takes the front with Joyce. 

The drives silent in the beginning. It’s started raining, drops hitting the windows and sliding down the glass. 

“Joyce?” 

“Hm?”

“Where will we sleep?”

“Oh! Well, I wanted to ask you about that. I’ve already got El cooped up in Will’s room, and he and Jonathan haven’t minded sleeping in the same bed before, but I don’t know if the two of you are up for that, so I’d understand if-“ 

“Joyce.” 

She glances over quickly and smiles a little sheepishly at Max, before turning back to the road in front of her. “Right. Sorry. Would you be okay sleeping in my bed with Billy? It’s a double. Or you could take the couch with me, but the bed’s nicer and Hopper made it sound like he was really hurt, so I didn’t want him to get worse, but if-“ 

Max can see Billy in the rear view mirror. He’s leaning his head against the window, his eyes closed, but she doesn’t think he’s sleeping. His breaths aren’t deep enough. He’s not saying anything, though. Max takes it to mean the decision’s up to her.

“It’s fine,” she says, and then, more honest than she thought she’d be, adds, “I don’t really want him out of my sight yet. I’d just worry, if I couldn’t see him.” 

When they get to the Byers’ place Joyce stops them in the living room, where she’s already made up the couch for one person to sleep on. She hands Billy a shirt and a pair of sweatpants that Max guesses belong to Jonathan, and gives him directions to the bathroom so he can change. Max she takes with her to her bedroom, and gets out some of her own pyjamas. Joyce is tiny, so Max doesn’t think they’ll be that big on her. 

The bed’s stripped of its clothes, and while she waits for Billy to emerge from the bathroom so she can change, Max sees Joyce carry in two pairs of pillows and two blankets. 

Billy doesn’t say anything when he gets out, just rubbing at his eyes on the way to the bedroom Joyce just left. Billy’s a little taller than Jonathan, so his sweatpants don’t go all the way to the floor as the few pairs Billy owns do. He looks younger than he’s done in years, butterfly stitches on his forehead and sagging shoulders. 

Max changes into Joyce’s clothes, well worn and soft, and steals a bit of toothpaste to rinse her mouth out. When she steps back out, the lights are turned off, and it takes her a couple seconds to adjust to the darkness. 

Billy left the door ajar, but Max closes it behind herself. He’s on his back, the spot farthest from door and one of the blankets pulled up to his chin. The other one lies folded at the end of the bed. 

Max grabs it and climbs up, pulling it over herself and curling up on her side so she can look at him. 

“I’m sorry,” Max whispers, into the dark of Joyce’s bedroom. She can barely make out Billy’s silhouette. There’s wetness in his eyes though, and it catches the light of the moon, so Max knows he isn’t asleep yet. “Not that she killed him, I’m glad he’s dead, but that-“

“Max-“ 

“I’m sorry he wasn’t a good dad.” 

She thinks he swallows before speaking. “Yeah. Me too. You know, I never thought she’d have it in her. I thought he’d have to hit you before she’d dare try to do anything.” He chuckles humourlessly. 

“How long has she known?” 

“What he does-  _ did_, to me?” 

“Yeah,” Max answers, ignoring his little slip up. 

“Third time she came over, I think?”

“Since before they got married?” Mac feels her eyes widen.

“Yeah, Max. Now shut up, we can talk more tomorrow.” 

“I’m glad you’re alive, Billy. I would have missed you.” 

He turns his head to the side to face Max, but it’s so dark she isn’t certain he can make out much of her. “I’d have missed you, too, shitbird. I doubt there would’ve been anyone to annoy me quite like you do if I’d been dead.” 

Max pulls her hand up from under her blanket and hits his upper arm. And Billy doesn’t get angry, he just laughs, quietly but happily, and Max can’t help but join in. And that’s that, really.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! Please consider leaving kudos if you liked it, or a comment to tell me what you thought!


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